New Friends, Old Enemies
by AFI-fan
Summary: My take on Harry's 5th year, first fic so be gentle. H/G with a little R/H on the side. A birthday gift gets Harry thinking about how much certain people really mean to him, and what is in store after the Tri-Wizard tournament? Will be H/G eventually.
1. A Way To Earn Your Keep

~Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any other characters or settings, blah blah blah, you know the drill, this applies for the whooooole story~

New Friends, Old Enemies

A Way To Earn Your Keep

            Harry woke up to the sounds of his Aunt Petunia screaming at him. She was obviously in the kitchen waiting for him to start making the breakfast for the family. He could hear Dudley thumping around his room trying to wake up properly as well. His weight was obviously adding to the strain on the floorboards and increased the noise level considerably. In the background of all this he could hear his Uncle, Vernon Dursley happily humming away in the shower.

            'Great,' Harry thought to himself, 'my first Saturday of summer break and already I'm just a slave for these horrible people.' He reluctantly threw his legs over the side of the bed and threw on some of Dudley's old baggy clothes and made his way toward the kitchen.

            The eggs were ready, the bacon was simmering, and the pancakes were served when he heard Dudley stomp his way to the breakfast table. He was obviously irritated thoroughly for having to get up this early during the summer, especially on a Saturday. His Aunt as usual was spying out the front window at the neighbors. Harry was laying the last few things out as his Uncle came striding into the room with an unusually pleasant look on his face. Harry quickly slipped back into the kitchen to eat what he'd saved himself and to start the washing up. In the background he heard his uncle break the silence at the breakfast table.

"So Dudley my boy, I've got great news for you" he said with a smile, "the company is hiring some summer help up at the warehouse. What do you say to a nice job young man? We definitely need the help and it'll help you by getting you loads of pocket money eh? So what do you say?"

            Dudley started protesting immediately. He threw a temper tantrum to rival that of a 2 year old. After nearly 15 minutes of this childish tirade, Mr. Dursley relented and permitted his son to do whatever his beastly heart desired. Harry then heard his Uncle mutter darkly, "Well I HAVE to get SOMEONE to fill in the spot." Harry turned and finished the washing up just in time to hear his Uncle shout out triumphantly. "AHA!! I've got it. GET IN HERE BOY!" he shouted with relish.

            Harry dragged himself to the presence of Mr. Dursley and recognized a glint of malice in his eyes. "YOU will be taking Duddy's place at Grunnings this summer boy, and I'll hear no complaints either. This will be a way to earn your keep around here. Now get out of here, you'll be starting Monday, and if there is any evidence of ANY funny business, you will find yourself out on the street and never welcome here again. Do you get me boy?"

Harry nodded dumbly and walked away. 'Great' he thought, 'now I get to spend my holidays in a ruddy warehouse with that arse breathing down my neck the entire time.' He just hoped he'd get his chance to shove off to The Burrow and his best friend Ron soon before things could get any worse.

He found himself upstairs unwittingly pulling out his schoolbooks to start his summer work. 'Wow' he thought, 'Hermione must be rubbing off on me a bit more than I'd like.' This summer he'd been able to keep his things from being locked up in the cupboard. At the mention of his Godfather, Harry was generally able to avoid most confrontations. So he sat down and began his potions essay. He figured if he was going to spend the days working at that awful factory he might as well finish his summer work early.

            Sunday night found Harry diligently finishing up his essay for History of Magic, thusly completing all his holiday work, much to his own surprise. He glanced over at the clock by his bed. 10:30. Harry got up and packed all his stuff away. Except for a few clothes Harry was actually fully packed and ready for his chance to leave the Dursley's, and the sooner the better he thought to himself. Harry finally settled down around 11 and fell asleep dreading the day laying before him. Thankfully, his mind was not haunted by any dreams of his experiences of the past year and he slept fitfully.


	2. The Job

The Job, Good News, and Bad News

            Harry woke Monday morning at 7 a.m. sharp and began his normal morning routine. Surprisingly, by the time breakfast was over, there had yet to be any incidents between Harry and his muggle family. At 8:30 Harry found himself in the backseat of the Dursley family vehicle loathing the man in front of him and dreading what was to come. Half an hour later they pulled into the parking lot of a fairly plain warehouse building with a giant sign GRUNNINGS DRILLS on the front.

            Harry was directed (dragged) to a backroom in the building and told to wait for his supervisor to come get him. Very little time passed before a young man, probably not more than 19 years of age, cam in and sat down behind the desk in front of Harry. He was tall with dirty blond hair dressed in a white Grunnings shirt and a pair of khaki shorts. He had a scowl on his face as he looked Harry up and down. The scowl quickly turned into a huge grin as he stood up and shook hands with Harry.

"Welcome to Grunnings, you must be Harry the new loader Mr. Dursley was complaining about. I don't know about him but you look like a good worker to me. My name's Chad, I'll be your supervisor." Harry breathed a sigh of relief, maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

"It's nice to meet you sir, but yes, Uncle Vernon does not like me very much at all, the only reason I'm here is because my lazy cousin didn't want to be here."

"Well," Chad said, "If you stick with me your time here won't be all bad." He bent down and opened a drawer in his desk. He pulled out 5 black T-shirts and 3 pairs of khaki shorts. "Here," he said, tossing the things to Harry, "this is the uniform for the loading crew."

Ten minutes later Harry found himself with Chad at the back of the building watching about 8 people pushing boxes of drills and bits into big trucks. "This is the shipping manifest," Chad said handing Harry a piece of paper, "It's a list of what goes on the truck, all you need to do is work with the others. Divide the job up, find the matching serial numbers and load the boxes on the trucks. Sound easy enough?" Harry nodded as Chad clapped him on the shoulder. "Good, I've got some things to take care of but I'll be back around 12:30 when break starts. Then you can ask any other questions you might have." With that, Chad left Harry standing on the loading dock.

            Harry fell into the swing of things rather easily after finding the list the other loaders were using. He found the section that was circled for him and he quickly set off with his cart to get the boxes needed. The time flew quickly and the trucks were finished about an hour ahead of schedule. After lounging with the crew for a bit, 12:30 came and Chad appeared and whisked Harry off to the break room. They chatted while they ate their lunches rather peacefully.

            Harry soon found out that Chad was a student at the local university and was very obsessed with the females. It became their only topic for the rest of the break. Chad asked Harry if he'd ever had a girlfriend, Harry had said he hadn't and wasn't really planning on it for awhile. The break ended as the afternoon shipment trucks pulled in, so Harry had to get back to work.

            The Trucks were all loaded by 4 so that left Harry an hour until his uncle would come down and get him so he decided to just walk around the warehouse. It was quite large despite outward appearances and he thought himself lost a few times. Eventually his Uncle came down and they were headed back to number 4 Privet Drive.

            When they finally got home that night, Harry immediately went to take a shower. Afterwards he collapsed on his bed. 'What a day' he thought, 'It may be tiring but at least I don't have any Dursley's getting on me the entire time.' After some time he heard banging around in the kitchen. Apparently with this job Harry wasn't expected to do his usual chores. This really shocked him but he was really grateful for it.

            After a meager dinner due to Dudley's continuing diet, Harry made his way upstairs. The diet appeared to be having some effect on him, instead of looking like a baby whale; he was taking on the appearance of a fully grown hippo. As Harry opened the door to his room he was startled when a screech from a barn owl sitting on his bed was let out. Judging by the tidy script on the envelope it could only be from one person, his best friend, Hermione Granger. 

_Dear Harry,_

_                        Guess what? My family is going to be vacationing in __Italy__ this summer. I can't wait to get there. I'm going to learn so many things. Before you ask, no, I'm not going to __Bulgaria__. I had never even considered it and Krum knew as well. We are only friends, nothing more. The only reason I had brought it up was to spite Ron. If I didn't know any better I'd think he was jealous. Speaking of Ron! Guess what else? His Dad got a big raise and they are going to _Romania___ to visit Charlie this summer! He sent me a letter with Errol to tell me, apparently Pig has a broken wing so I wouldn't be surprised if we don't get much mail from him. Anyway, that's all the exciting news I have, hope to hear from you soon!_

_                                                            With Love,_

_                                                                        Hermione_

"So Pig has a broken wing eh?" Harry said, "That explains the lack of post." 

            Harry was incredibly happy for the Weasley family, if anyone deserved a raise from the Ministry, it was Arthur Weasley. The only downside was the fact that with them gone, Harry would be stuck here a lot longer than he originally expected. He wrote a response and told her all about his new treatment due to the job and wished her luck with her vacation. He tied it to the owl's leg and it flew off into the night. Harry wrote a similar note to Ron and added a congratulation for the family and sent the letter off with his snowy owl, Hedwig. As Harry laid down to sleep he couldn't help but wonder what his life would have been like if his family was still alive.

            The next few weeks passed without incident. 5 days a week Harry would spend 8 hours a day hauling boxes and enjoying friendly chats with Chad and the crew. The work environment for Harry was surprisingly fun and easy to deal with so he felt no apprehension towards going back day after day. He also discovered that the work itself was becoming easier to do. Apparently all the lifting, pushing, and pulling was paying off for Harry and he was filling out rather nicely. He thought this was great because he would be in top shape for the new Quidditch season, especially since he hadn't flown in over a year, unless you count the Hungarian Horntail. When Harry wasn't at work, he steadily avoided any interaction with the Dursley's so he kept up with the Wizarding world with weekly owls to his best friends and an occasional one to his Godfather, Sirius Black.  

            Harry soon learned that all was not well. There had been a few isolated Death Eater attacks on muggles and Cornelius Fudge was still denying the fact that Voldemort had risen again. The Ministry itself was split in half between those siding with Dumbledore, and those siding with Fudge. He knew these developments were bad but he also knew that right now, there was no real immediate danger. His scar hadn't hurt at all since the night of the third task of the Triwizard Tournament. He knew the events that transpired were not his fault but he couldn't help but feel guilty. Cedric Diggory died because they chose to take the cup for a tie. The portkey brought them both to Voldemort but it was he, Harry, that he wanted, not Cedric. Harry shivered as he remembered the voice, "Kill the spare."  Then the bright flash of green light that signified the end. 

            As he snapped back into reality, he realized, there's no need to dwell on the past. He needed to just grit his teeth and try as hard as he could so that he would be ready for the next onslaught that was inevitable in coming.


	3. A Very Happy Birthday

A Very Happy Birthday

            Harry woke up to a loud tapping sound at his window. He looked over at his clock. 5 a.m.  'Okay' he thought, 'this better be good.' As soon as he opened the window Hedwig and 3 other owls swooped into the room, each carrying a package. "Oh man," he said as he looked at his calendar, "It's my birthday, I can't believe I forgot my own birthday." 

            He reached down and first picked up a tin with an envelope addressed to him in Hagrid's untidy scrawl.

            _Happy Birthday Harry!_

_                        I figured those Dursley's weren't feeding you to well so I thought you might like some of my sweets. I just got back from my assignment from Dumbledore so I'll be staying on as your teacher again this year. Can't wait to see you._

_                                                                        Hagrid_

            Harry opened the tin. Inside was a load of toffees and rock cakes. Harry grimaced at the thought of eating these but was happy that Hagrid was out there and okay. Next he picked up a parcel from his Godfather, inside the package was a book: 1001 Practical Jokes and Pranks. Inside the cover was a note:

            _Happy Birthday Harry!_

_                        Remus and I thought you should have this in hopes of honoring the name marauder. Your father would want you to enjoy your years at Hogwarts and trust us, pranking definitely adds some spice to your life. I don't know when we'll get a chance but I'll try to see you soon._

_                                                Sirius and Remus_

            Harry picked up his third parcel, another book, this one from Hermione. Dueling Through the Ages. This also had a note attached to it.

            _Dear Harry,_

_                        With all that's happening out there I thought that you of all people could use this book. It'll teach you new spells and tactics. I hope you have a great day!_

_                                                                        With Love,_

_                                                                                    Hermione_

            Next Harry picked up Ron's gift. Once again, he got another book, this one was called; Great Quidditch Seekers: Past and Present. He flipped through the book and stopped when a note inside the pages caught his eye. He picked up the note:

            _Hey Harry! Check this book out! The greatest seekers ever are in it. There are pictures, bios, even lists and descriptions of stats and moves. And guess the best part!! YOU'RE IN IT!!!! ….._

Harry gasped and looked up from the note. In the book he saw his name in bold letters over a picture of him diving after the snitch in his gryffindor robes. 'Wow' thought Harry, 'This must be one of Colin's shots. I wonder how they found him' He looked back down at the note,

            _-even better is that the book auto-updates itself, so the more stuff you do, the more there'll be about you. Isn't that great?! Well, gotta go, hope the muggles are treating you okay, I'll send you an owl when we get back home in a couple weeks._

_                                                                                    Ron_

Harry was blown away, a Quidditch book with him in it? He flipped back through it. He saw some stats of his career at Hogwarts. Then he was another picture of him executing a perfect Wronski Feint. 'Wow' he thought again, 'Colin has a definite career with this.'

            He was about to write his responses when another box caught his eye. It was small, relatively flat, and rectangular in shape. He opened it up and immediately saw a beautiful chain necklace made for boys. Hanging from it was a wonderfully fashioned lion's head, obviously signifying Gryffindor. He pulled it out of the package and gasped at what he saw underneath. It was a picture of…….Ginny? Harry picked it up and looked at it. She was beautiful. She was wearing a yellow sundress and laughing as the sun shone off her dark red hair. It was a still frame, probably taken by her father with one of his many cameras in his muggle artifacts collection. He began to get that strange feeling in his stomach, like whenever he saw Cho, but this time it was much, much stronger. He looked back at the picture, then the chain, then back again. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a note in the bottom of the shallow box.

            _Happy Birthday Harry,_

_                        I saw the chain in a store here in __Romania__ and automatically thought of you. The shopkeeper said it had an ancient magic about it and it depended upon the giver as to what magic would be invoked on it. It sounded silly at the time but I got it anyway, I hope you like it. The picture was actually Hermione's idea. She knows you have a few of her, Ron, and the team so she said I should add one to your collection. I hope you like it. I hope to see you when we get back from _Romania___._

_                                                                        Love,_

_                                                                                    Ginny_

"Do I like it?" Harry breathed, "What happened to her being Ron's little sister? She's beautiful." With that he sat down and wrote responses to everybody, every once and awhile looking over at the picture wondering what his stomach was telling him. He sent off the owls and sat down with his dueling book until it was time for him to get ready for work.

            Harry's day went by normally until his lunch break started. He was the first one in the room which was odd. He shrugged it off and started in on his sandwich as the door to the room burst open and the entire loading crew came in with Chad bearing the cake. The crew celebrated Harry's birthday for about half an hour until everyone but Chad left to go about their things. Harry sat there with a content grin on his face. 'These people barely know me,' he thought, 'and they did all this for me, what a great day.' With that he pulled out the picture Ginny had sent him and stared at it again. Too late he noticed Chad looking over his shoulder.

"Thought you said you didn't have a girlfriend Harry?" he said with a grin.

Harry blushed as he responded, "She's not my girlfriend, she's my best friend's sister. She used to have a crush on me but by the looks of her letter, she's over that now."

"With a picture like that," Chad said, "I don't think she wants to be just a friend Harry my man. That's a pretty one; you shouldn't let her get away before you realize it's too late." With that he walked out of the room leaving Harry to his own thoughts. 

"What if she does still like me?" he said to himself. He shook his head and cleaned up the party mess and went back to work.

At 5 o'clock Harry's Uncle came down and got him and they headed back to Privet Drive. After his shower and meager dinner, Harry was in his room and decided to steel himself for one of Hagrid's rock cakes. To his surprise it appeared that Hagrid had altered his recipe and the cakes were not only edible but delicious. After the rock cakes Harry leaned back and heaved a contented sigh. For once he hadn't had a crappy birthday with the muggles. He turned over to go to sleep, but remained deprived as he mulled over his changing feelings for one Ginny Weasley.


	4. A Midnight Flight

**A Midnight Flight**

            It was another week and a half before Harry finally got the owl he'd been waiting for all summer. The now healed pigwidgeon had crashed straight through his closed window and flown straight into Hedwig's open cage, much to her dismay. The Weasleys were coming home at the end of the week and Harry would be able to stay with them for the rest of the summer. He sent his reply with Pig and packed all his remaining things except for 2 days' worth of work clothes. The only thing on Harry's mind at this point was how he was going to get to The Burrow. The note said he was able to come, but it didn't say that they'd be coming to get him.  

"Well," he said to himself, "if anything I'll be able to take the Knight Bus."

            The night before he was set to depart from the Dursleys' Harry was getting ready to lie down to sleep when a strange sound caught his ear. He had heard it before, but not this harsh sounding, and it was getting louder. Phoenix song!!  All of a sudden Fawkes burst through his window much the same way as Pig had just a few days ago. However, instead of flying straight into Hedwig's cage he went straight to Harry and dropped an unsealed letter into his hands. Harry immediately recognized the script of Professor Dumbledore but in this letter the writing appeared to be rushed. He quickly opened the note and read it with a look of surprise and worry on his face.

            _Harry,_

_            You must move quickly, Voldemort has surprised us all with his latest of moves. The prison of Azkaban is no longer under control of the Dementors and all the prisoners have been freed. With this new development the Ministry has temporarily revoked the restriction on underage magic. You must leave at once for the Weasley home; the only conscious human guard said he heard the Death Eaters saying the next stop was __Privet Drive__. He of course does not know what that means, but I do. You must move quickly, I understand you have gotten a very useful gift for your birthday and I have instructed Fawkes to show you what you need to do, you must not be seen when you leave. I will be at the Burrow awaiting your arrival._

_                                                            Albus Dumbldore_

            Harry looked up at the phoenix with a mixture of anger and determination on his face. He then realized that Fawkes was standing over an open page of the dueling book that Hermione had given him just weeks ago. He was pointing with his beak at a particular passage on the left page. It read:

THE SHROUDING CHARM

                The shrouding charm is a particularly difficult spell that can only be cast by the most powerful of witches and wizards. When the incantation _  shroudus  _is said, the object, or person that the spell is directed towards becomes temporarily invisible from human vision for a span of time depending on the power put behind the spell. This charm can be used on any object or person of relatively small size. 

            The description went into more detail but Harry knew what Dumbledore wanted him to do, he had to disguise himself and his things so he couldn't be detected. The only problem he faced now was how to get to the Burrow; surely if Voldemort was coming here he'd attempt to block any way of transportation, which meant that the Knight Bus was definitely not a possibility. Then it hit him, hard.  The Firebolt!! He quickly went through his things, got his broomstick out, and repacked all of his belongings and at the same time let Hedwig out and told her to meet him at the Weasley house.

            He cast the charm on her cage first; he found it slightly difficult to do. 3 tries and he managed to make the cage fully disappear and he then understood what was meant by the necessity of power for the spell. Within a span of 10 minutes from receiving the letter, Harry was ready to go, all that remained was making himself invisible but he was exhausted from charming his things and enchanting them to follow him. He pulled the invisibility cloak over himself, hopped on his now invisible Firebolt and shot out of the window following Fawkes the phoenix closely without a single glance back at the house he'd just left.

            It appeared that the phoenix knew where it was going and Harry had a tough time keeping up with the bird despite the fact that he was riding the fastest racing broom ever made. The trip went by quickly for Harry but he knew it was quite some time before the town of Ottery St. Catchpole came into view. Memories of last summer flooded back to him as he flew over the hill that had held the portkey that took him to the Quidditch World Cup. With a lurch of his stomach he also remembered that the Diggory's had shared that portkey and he turned away to look forward before his emotions could get the better of him. 5 minutes later Harry was cheered with the sight of the crooked home known as The Burrow.

            Harry and his belongings crashed into the front yard a few feet shy of the front door from a mixture of fatigue and relief. He had made the trip safely and he would be able to see what he considered his real family for 2 wonderful weeks. Despite the severity of the situation that he knew the wizarding world was in right then, he smiled to himself at the thought of spending time with Ginny and getting to know her better.

            At that moment the front door crashed open and the worried faces of the entire Weasley family streamed out followed closely by a tall man with half moon spectacles and a long flowing white beard. Mrs. Weasley was the first to get to him and proceeded to suffocate him with the fiercest hug he'd ever received. 

"Oh Harry dear, thank goodness you're okay, we were so worried when we learned what was going to happen." Tears were streaming down her face as she held him close for several minutes before letting him go.

The rest of the Weasley clan doled out their congratulations and Dumbledore stood with his bright blue eyes twinkling in the moonlight as he nodded his approval of Harry's escape.

"Harry,  it's great to see you mate,  too bad you didn't have time to grab your stuff, I wonder if you'll be forced to get all new things now, there's no way you'll ever be going back to the Dursleys after tonight." Ron said as he came forward to help Harry into the house.

"Oh I almost forgot!   Finite Incantatum!" With a wave of his wand, Harry revealed all his possessions much to the surprise of everybody save Dumbledore.

"Cor, that was bloody brilliant of you man. Where did you learn a spell like that?" Ron said, amazement stamped clearly all over his face.

            Harry rummaged through his trunk and pulled out the book that Hermione had given him and handed it to Ron, "In here, Hermione gave it to me for my birthday and Dumbledore had Fawkes show me the charm. It's really hard to do; I was so tired after doing my stuff I had to rely on the cloak to keep me covered."

            Ron walked back into the house with Harry looking at the book as the twins carried Harry's trunk and Mr. Weasley holding Hedwig's empty cage. As they walked through the doorway, Harry glanced back and saw the figure of Ginny standing on the porch looking up at him. He felt the strange flutter in his stomach again but managed a smile and a wave.

            Ginny smiled back but quickly turned away so he wouldn't see her blush. "He must think I'm still a silly little girl." She thought to herself as she quickly walked away around the side of the house. She headed off to the garden so she could be alone with her thoughts.

            Harry was a bit surprised by her reaction but was unable to do anything about it as he was dragged into the kitchen so Dumbledore could explain everything in detail. He listened vaguely as Dumbledore discussed the disappearance of the Dementors and the release of Voldemort's entire platoon of old supporters. He also understood that Dumbledore was as dumbfounded as every other wizard as to how Voldemort had broken through the charms that were protecting him. The final thing he remembered was the discussion of how the Burrow was being made Unplottable so as not to be found by anybody other than a select few individuals. Throughout the entire discussion Harry's mind was wandering towards a certain redhead that was currently sitting by herself outside in the dark without anyone to talk to. 

            After another few minutes, Dumbledore stood up and said his goodbyes. He turned to Harry and said; "I'm glad you made it here safely, but you as well as the rest of the Weasley family cannot go out beyond the property line of The Burrow. You will stay here until September the 1st and I will personally escort you to the train. Your things for this school year will be picked up for you by Remus and Sirius. I expect you will seeing a bit more of them this year than you have in the past. Alas, for now I must leave, I will see you in two weeks, and good luck Harry." With that, he disapparated with an audible pop, and left Harry in the kitchen with Ron.

            Harry looked up at Ron with a smile on his face; he couldn't help but being happy now that he was where he belonged, with friends that actually cared about him. To his surprise Ron came up quickly and hugged him tightly, "I'm glad you're here man, I really am. It's great to see you." He was really surprised at this display but he knew what Ron really meant. "I'm glad I'm here. It's great to see you too." He returned the embrace and they walked up the flights of stairs to Ron's room where Harry would be sleeping.

            As he was pulling on his pajamas he couldn't help but wonder what Dumbledore had meant about Sirius and Lupin. His thoughts wandered back to Privet Drive. Did the Death Eaters actually go there? If they did, what happened to the Dursleys? As much as he disliked them, Harry did not ever really want to see any harm fall on them because of him. His mind wandered away from those thoughts as the sound of Ron's steady breathing caught his ears. He lay down on his cot to go to sleep and once again found himself thinking about Ginny Weasley. He knew he would have to talk to her, he vowed to himself to make an effort of it as soon as possible, he couldn't spend the next 2 weeks feeling utterly awkward around her without knowing her true feelings, and for that matter his own. He drifted off to sleep still thinking of recent events and pondering on what was to come.


	5. Quidditch and Realizations

**Quidditch and Realizations**

            Harry woke the next morning to the sun shining brightly into his face. He put on his glasses to bring everything into focus. Looking over at Ron's empty bed he realized, the Weasley's must have let him sleep in really late. As he rolled out of his makeshift bed, Harry realized, he was home. This house was the only place other than Hogwarts where he felt that he actually belonged.

            He made his way down the stairs listening to the noises of dishes clanging around and being washed. As soon as his foot left the bottom stair, Mrs. Weasley was all over him.

"Harry dear, we didn't expect you to be up so soon. Here, hold on for a moment, I'll whip up some bacon and toast for you, is that okay?"

            Harry nodded dumbly, she had spoken so fast his mind was still catching up when she magically produced the said items and placed them on the table. He ate slowly under the watchful eye of Mrs. Weasley, she seemed highly motivated in her personal goal of fattening him up especially since she knew how little food he usually got while with the Dursley's. As he finished up, he realized, the Burrow was currently devoid of all sounds that indicated the presence of children.

"Mrs. Weasley? Where is everyone?" he asked while putting the dishes in the self washing sink.

"Oh, they're out back playing Quidditch, Ron said to let you know as soon as you were up and about."

Harry felt a smile grow on his face. 'Quidditch,' he thought, 'this'll be great, I haven't had a nice relaxing flight on my Firebolt in over a year!' 

He ran upstairs and grabbed his broomstick, he was about to rush right back down the stairs when he glanced out the window. 'The OPEN window,' he thought to himself. Without a second thought, he launched himself out of the window, pulled himself onto the broom, and didn't pull out of his dive until he was barely a foot off the ground. In the midst of feeling the wind rush over his face and the exhilarated feeling he had inside, he thought he heard Mrs. Weasley's shocked gasp at seeing him just plummet to the ground. He laughed as he imagined her expression, and skimmed the grass all the way to the sheltered paddock where he could already hear the activity going on.

He hopped off the broom and walked into the clearing to see a 2 on 2 game fully under way. Ron and Ginny were facing off against Fred and George in a makeshift Quidditch match. They were using what appeared to be an old discarded football as a Quaffle. 

'Yes, very old.' Harry thought, 'the white and the black are almost indistinguishable.'

He watched on as Ron sat determinedly in the keeper position while Ginny worked hard at trying to get past what looked like Fred. Unfortunately for her, Fred was by far the superior flyer and had managed to steal the ball and make for the makeshift hoops that had been constructed. Harry let out a low whistle at the sight of Ron blocking the shot. It was a very acrobatic move on his part and Fred looked dumbfounded. At the sound of his whistle though, everyone realized Harry had arrived.

"Oy!! Harry! How long have you been standing there mate?" Ron asked with a still satisfied look on his face.

"Long enough to see that you have really been practicing, are you planning on trying out for Gryffindor keeper this year?"

At this George flew down and landed next to Harry. "He sure is! Me and Fred here, we've been training him up pretty hard here lately. He's getting pretty good too, I can't believe that last save he made, bloody brilliant it was."

Harry heard him start to go on about how great it would be to have another Weasley on the team but he was too occupied watching Ginny to pay attention. After everyone had acknowledged his presence Ron and Fred had flown down to each other and were talking animatedly about something. George was talking to Harry, and that must've made her feel left out, because it looked like she was getting ready to leave.

"Harry...Harry!?!?!? Are you listening??"

He snapped out of his thoughts as George started shaking him to get his attention. "Sorry, I was…distracted, just thinking about stuff"

He raised an eyebrow and looked over to where Ginny was leaving the paddock and started to grin. "Distracted huh? Well maybe if you go ask her to play," he jerked his head in her direction, "she'll stick around for a bit." 

Harry's head jerked up. "What are you talking about?" he said, feeling a blush creep onto his face.

"Oh nothing, but if you _did want her to stay, you missed your chance," indicating she had left, "I guess its just you and Ron now, think you're up for a match against Fred and I?"_

Harry didn't respond. He glanced at where Ginny had disappeared from, sighed inwardly, looked over at George's expectant face, and just launched himself into the air, and lost himself in the thrill of flying. Soon the others joined him, and instead of actually playing a game, they goofed around until lunch was announced.

Lunch was a simple affair. Mrs. Weasley had made sandwiches and provided pumpkin juice to drink. Everyone was fairly quiet. The twins were whispering to each other under the watchful glare of their mother.

'They must be planning a new Wheeze', Harry thought, smiling to himself. 

            Ron seemed fairly distant as he ate. It looked like he was just staring out the window into nothing. Ginny was engrossed in looking over something that looked like a sketchbook. Harry ate slowly, every once and a while stealing glances at Ginny as she alternated between eating her sandwich and chewing the tip of her quill.

            The meal was over shortly and everyone dispersed to go about their own things. The twins ran straight up to their rooms. Ron still seemed fairly out of it as Harry watched him ascend the stairs to his own room. Mrs. Weasley retired to the kitchen to do the dishes so Harry decided to help. He couldn't help but notice that Ginny had somehow disappeared once again. He sighed to himself as he once again thought about the picture she had given him.

            "What's wrong Harry?" Mrs. Weasley questioned at the sound he had made. Harry thought fast.

            "Nothing really, I was just wondering why Ron seemed so far away all of a sudden. It was like he was in a different world."

            Mrs. Weasley turned to him, "I know dear, it _is_ strange. He's been like that off and on ever since the end of term, but I think it has something to do with a certain friend of yours." She said with a wink. With that she turned away and finished the dishes with a flick of her wand.

            Harry thought about what she had just said for a few moments. He knew who she was talking about, and after thinking about it, it didn't come as much of a surprise. Ron had been pretty stupid around Hermione ever since the Yule Ball. But thinking about that just made him come back to Ginny again. He knew he wouldn't be able to find her now, but he told himself, he would talk to her soon, if not the next day, then by the end of the week. With that, he spent the rest of the day laying in the garden, thinking about what he would say.


End file.
